Attracting Predators?

With the obvious " do not attract dangerous predators to you".
Are there predators we do wish to see such as garden snakes?
Have fun

Be most excellent to each other.

Alder Burns

pollinator

Posts: 1331

Location: northern California

42

posted 3 years ago

1

"Small" predators seem almost always welcome, since their main prey is insects. One of the best ways to attract these is with even a small permanent water feature in the system. This will give a place for frogs, toads, dragonflies and others to breed, from where they disperse into the surrounding landscape. Their influence is so dramatic that, counterintuitively, adding a pond to a system is a good method for mosquito control! The reason is that mosquitoes breed in temporary water which does not attract their predators, whereas the predators like permanent water, and they control the larvae there and the adults everywhere else.....

Alder Burns (adiantum)

Seth Wetmore

Posts: 158

Location: Some where in the universe in space and time.

1

posted 3 years ago

the size of said pond ? should it be similar to a coi pond. Are there other fish that are less exspensive? The city of carmel maintains a coi pond in one of its parks, they put a ledge for the coi to be protected from racoons. Interesting. Lets keep it up.

Be most excellent to each other.

Alder Burns

pollinator

Posts: 1331

Location: northern California

42

posted 3 years ago

The amphibians and insects will find their own way to the pond. I've seen dragonflies laying eggs in the water when I was still filling a tiny pond with a hose!! Often the next morning there will be toad or frog eggs in the water.
For fish, you really want mosquito fish. This is a small, minnow sized fish, comparable to and related to a guppy, only less flamboyant and hardier. A few of them can survive without supplemental food, and control mosquito larvae, in a body of water as small as a 55 gallon barrel. Some counties, at least, in CA give them away for free as mosquito control agents. For readers elsewhere besides North America these fish (gambusia) are often considered an invasive pest and might even be illegal, so you may need to find other options. Even common goldfish will eat some mosquito larvae, but the mosquito fish specializes in them.

Alder Burns (adiantum)

Seth Wetmore

Posts: 158

Location: Some where in the universe in space and time.

1

posted 3 years ago

That is good stuff.

Be most excellent to each other.

mick mclaughlin

Posts: 200

Location: Augusta,Ks

3

posted 2 years ago

Cover of any type is good as well. Rocks , along with water encourage gardner snakes who eat slugs, grasshoppers etc... Gopher snakes, and other snakes would help control many's problems with gophers.

Bird baths with running water encourage many good birds and other predators.

Everything has a purpose.

Dale Hodgins

gardener

Posts: 6139

Location: Victoria British Columbia-Canada

187

posted 2 years ago

Strategically placed rock piles store heat for tender plants and provide a home for insectavores.

I have converted dead trees to bird condos, by making hollows with the nose of my chainsaw. Wood peckers finish the job.

I want birds of prey. They like to perch on flat broken tree tops. It's a fun job to climb up and flatten a pointy tree top. Eagles, osprey, ravens and many hawks and owls live around the place. An owl brushed my face with a wing tip while using me as cover, in hunting a mouse that was 5 feet beyond me. It killed the mouse and then just looked at me for 2 seconds before taking the meal to the nest a short distance away.